[Warlock]

Why not render out a distant supernova to be usde as an in game background effect to simulate the Capella Nova from other systems?

Just a thought  

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Warlock
 
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[Setekh]

I wonder exactly how long a supernova would last.

[Warlock]

Depends on the distance. To be honest I'm not sure scientists really know,..being all we can study are Novas from a few million years ago.

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Warlock
 
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[JarC]

 

Originally posted by Warlock:
a few million years

there's yer answer then....long enough for FS plot purposes...

[Warlock]

Yes but that's also because the light has traveled billions if not trillions of lightyears before we view it. And even then we need a hell-a-kickass telescope,..what'd be the point of that in game  

But the going theory is the flash point should still be viewable several systems away for at least a few months if not years.

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[Styxx]

It would probably take a few years for the light to reach the closest system, but it would be some really bright light...  

[morris13]

 

Originally posted by Styxx:
It would probably take a few years for the light to reach the closest system, but it would be some really bright light...  

There are reports from china in the 6th century(I think?) of the light from the supernova that created the horsehead nebula reaching earth. For almost a year it was like having two full moons in the sky every night and it was even visible during the day, and that was at a fairly large distance, galactically speaking. A recent supernova in close proximity (4-10LY) to a system would make a very big, very bright light. If you wanted to make it a lil older it would be a lil less bright, but much larger since what you would be seeing was the supernoval nebula forming, and still mostly on fire. Very spectatular.
Wow.. that'd be an interesting mission... you come through an uncharted node into a recently formed nebula that still has a star collapsing in the middle. That'd give someone the chance to really show off backgroundwise. =)

[Nico]

If only we could use ani files for the background... Everybody with me: WE WANT THE SOURCES!!!! WE WANT THE SOURCES!!! WE -bump-

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[Sushi]

As far as I understand it, supernovae start off with a really bright flash that lasts as long as the explosion(not long) and then slowly get dimmer as the gas cools.

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[Shrike]

A supernova at the distance of capella would, for a period of a couple months, be the brightest thing in the sky.  At their peak, they're brighter than the entire rest of the galaxy put together!

[wEvil]

i thought it was the crab nebula the chinese saw explode?

a (small) supernova within 100 light years of a habitable planet would totally sterilise any life and destroy the ozone layer.

the most recent one was in the large magealannic cloud, and that could be seen with the naked eye.  


as to rendering a supernova, easy enough with a bit of lensflare and a plugin like pyrocluster, afterburn or hypervoxels(i think thats lightwaves' plugin?)

[Shrike]

It's just REALLY bright.  It'll still be a point source.

[Sushi]

Hmmm...that would make an interesting mission background- the Capella star has just exploded, the shockwave will reach this system in XX days, time to start packing up civilization...

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[NeoHunter]

How long did the Crab Nebula last as a supernova? A few days or weeks before it became the nebula?

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[morris13]

 

Originally posted by NeoHunter:
How long did the Crab Nebula last as a supernova? A few days or weeks before it became the nebula?

It took years. Keep in mind that that nebula is solid matter in a cloud several light years across. Even with how powerful a supernova is, the material shockwave isn't moving at the speed of light, and so a nebula is going to take many years to form and cool. While the supernova itself will be a point source, during the years during which the nebula is forming, especially the first couple, the nebula itself is glowing hot, and in a sense sort of on fire, so you would have a REALLY bright point source with a corona of gas around it. Also, the effects of a supernova explosion are not quite that widespread. Systems within 10LY or so would see some serious problems, but not any farther away than that. I suppose someone could do some research on astronamy sites and find out where capella actually is relative to other stars.

[phreak]

 

Originally posted by wEvil:
a (small) supernova within 100 light years of a habitable planet would totally sterilise any life and destroy the ozone layer.

If this statement is true then we're all dead.. Capella is around 45LY away


edit: reading previous posts just trashed above quote.

[This message has been edited by PhReAk (edited 05-12-2001).]

[Shrike]

pretty....look at the supernova

 

Oh, and BTW, if the Tantalus nebula (that one above) were the same distance as the orion nebula, it'd take up something like a quarter of the sky......

[Arnav]

I remember a mission I played... yes, I think Temporal Mechanics' demo mission - it had a tiny sun with a bunch of nebula around it, and one pilot said "Oooh, that was Capella" and I thought "woah".
It was TM's demo mission, right?  


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[Kazan]

Are you sure that is the Tantalus? it looks like the Turantual

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[This message has been edited by Kazan (edited 05-19-2001).]

[The Claw]

I personally think the Crab Nebula is the nebula you fly in in FS2. Why?
 Because it exploded just about the time (when you take in travel time etc. as well) that the ancients got wiped out.

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